Neil deGrasse Tyson locates Superman's home planet

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman's home star system! Thanks to astrophysicist and geek all-star Neil deGrasse Tyson, Krypton has been located within the known universe.

Tyson teamed with DC Comics to track down a Krypton-like system that matches hints from the comics. He found a fitting red dwarf in the constellation Corvus (the crow) in the southern sky, a mere 27.1 light years from Earth.

Tyson even gets a cameo in Action Comics #14, "Star Light, Star Bright," when Superman makes a visit to the astrophysicist's planetarium. The Man of Steel attempts to track down the location of his former home, which was destroyed shortly after he left, according to Superman mythology. The story's timing should be just right for the light from the planet's destruction to reach Earth.

"As a native of Metropolis, I was delighted to help Superman, who has done so much for my city over all these years. And it's clear that if he weren't a superhero he would have made quite an astrophysicist," Tyson said in a release about the new comic.

You'll need a telescope to find red dwarf LHS 2520, though. If you're not on a first-name basis with Neil deGrasse Tyson like Superman is, then you can just use these coordinates and find it on your own:

J2000
Right Ascension: 12 hours 10 minutes 5.77 seconds
Declination: -15 degrees 4 minutes 17.9 seconds
Proper Motion: 0.76 arcseconds per year, along 172.94 degrees from due north

(Via New Scientist)